


Look Around (There's a Patch of Snow on the Ground)

by docboredom



Category: Game Grumps, TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Canon Jewish Character, Christmas Special, Cultural Differences, Erm HANUKKAH SPECIAL?, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Identity, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, You know what I mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/docboredom/pseuds/docboredom
Summary: There were no stockings in the Avidan household. No sugar plums dancing in their heads. Hanukkah would be starting in little over a week and no one was prepared.-It's been months since Dan Avidan saved the world and realized his destiny, and since then things have been quiet. Ordinary. Something in him is hungry for more, but he's stuck, Earth bound. With his winter break coming up he tries to keep telling himself to focus on better things, but worse ones are just around the corner.-Leaps and bounds away, in the heart of darkness, the Starlight Brigade faces their own strangeness, and it seems the god prince and his star herald will be brought together once more.
Relationships: Dan Avidan/Ashley Anderson, Doctor Sung/Lord Phobos, Suzy Berhow/Arin Hanson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [there's a light (and it never goes out)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19822606) by [docboredom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/docboredom/pseuds/docboredom). 

> I've been wanting to continue this 'verse since I first published TALTNGO  
At what better time than the holidays?

‘Twas the night before Christmas break, when all through Dan Avidan’s house, not a creature was stirring, not even himself.

Now, eight months ago, give or take, that hadn’t been the case. His head had been filled with apocalyptic nightmares, strange intuitions, and the backwards whisperings of an upside down woman who walked worlds and ate starlight. There had also been an alien prince in his basement, a kerneling of something incredible inside of him, and, in the real world, the Cold War collapsing in on itself.

Star Herald- that what he was called. The last one in existence, apparently. The mouthpiece to the gods. You think that fact alone would make him exempt from mundane things like applying for college and finals and holding a part time job, but no one knew who he was, _ what _ he was, except for Arin, Sung, Phobos, Meouch, and Havve.

He missed them. Well, not Arin, because he saw him every day, but the rest of them. The Starlight Brigade gang. But they couldn’t stay here. When Sung had visited back in the summer for a week with all of them in tow, he had told Dan exactly that. That it wasn’t just the Dechoir that they had to keep fighting, but all of Boredom’s armies and agents and offshoots. Dan could distinctly remember the god awful Hawaiin print shirt Sung had been wearing when those words left him on the Coney Island boardwalk, vanilla ice cream smeared all over his mouth. To anyone else, it would sound like an elaborate Dungeons and Dragons plotline. 

To Dan, this was his life now.

And despite that fact, he was still _ here _. Going to his job at the comic book store, playing Super Mario and Megaman, celebrating normal Jewish holidays with his parents like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Being painfully and undeniably human.

He just wanted one night. One night as a Justice Acolyte. When he had penned those lyrics out after everything was said and done, he had thought they were meant for Sung. The Lumen prince was the hero after all, the star’s chosen one. 

But he had been a god once too, saving all of them through the echoes of memory and the bending of time-space. A momentary _ Gilluy Shekinah _ , _ Tzedakah _ even, a reflection of _ Adonai _ . He had been something in that epic moment. No, _ more _ than something. Dan had simultaneously been every possible something to ever have been, and to ever be.

He had been the universe once.

You just didn’t forget something like that.

There were no stockings in the Avidan household. No sugar plums dancing in their heads. Hanukkah would be starting in little over a week and _ no one _ was prepared. His parents (read: his mother) had gotten the grand idea of inviting all of their family over to celebrate this year, so once he got back from school tomorrow, the cleaning began.

He had fallen asleep trying to think of things that weren’t epic space battles and his Ya Ya’s god awful Gefilte Fish dish he just knew she’d bring along. This Sunday, the Simpson’s would finally premiere on Fox and there would be no homework to be found. He had managed to get his parents one nice big gift to give on the last day of Hanukkah and still had some leftover money for him and Arin to spend, maybe on a Gameboy if his best friend’s parents didn’t buy one for him. Dan Avidan had literally nothing to worry about as he snuggled further into his bed.

That’s what he thought, at least.

*

“Dude. She’s _ totally _ checking you out.” 

Dan bit back a groan as he leaned further into his locker, sweeping a flashlight around. Principal Brown had outright demanded they clear everything out by the end of the day for a deep clean over break. When they came back, it’d be 1990! A whole new decade, he had proclaimed during the morning announcements. A fresh start!

Seemed more like an elaborate ruse to get himself some free child labor, but Dan would keep that thought to himself.

“Daniel, my good man, did you hear me?” Arin hissed quietly (except not really, because he was Arin Hanson after all.) “Hot babe alert, nine o’clock.”

Deciding to humor him, Dan peeked his curly head out into the open and found Ashley Anderson watching them. _ The _ Ashley Anderson, newest and most popular girl in school. She wasn’t only his biggest crush, but he was almost certain she was one of the prettiest girls out there- after Carrie Fisher and Whitney Houston, of course. “ _ Shtok! _ You’re such an asshole.” Dan muttered as hid back inside his locker again, desperately trying to make sure their eyes didn’t catch. “You know why she’s staring, Arin? It’s because your book’s upside down, dumb ass.”

Arin made an offended sound before slamming the book shut. “I am _not_ being an asshole, I’m being serious!” He whisper-hissed in his direction, almost quiet this time around. “She was walking down the hallway with her little posse when she just stopped and…looked at you.”  
Looked at you. Maybe it was the dark, tight press of his locker, or maybe it was the way his heart longed for adventure once more, but Dan was almost certain that there was something in the way Arin had said it, a double meaning to be found. “Well, I mean-” Oh, no. There it was. Or better yet, there it was not. It was losing it’s edges, becoming insubstantial and soft. “Like, the backside of you.” Arin finished abruptly, making an embarrassed sound.

Dan’s brows hitched upward automatically, mouth following suit. “You mean she was looking at my ass, big cat…?” 

He felt Arin’s hand glance off his left shoulder, a half assed slap. “Oh, fuck off with that.”

When he finally peeked his head out again he was surprised to see Ashley _ still _ watching them. She was wearing the prettiest cream colored sweater with dark green corduroys, blonde curls pinned back with golden holly combs. That was another laughable difference between them. Why a sweet, smart girl like Ashley could never really notice a guy like him. Her family came from money, his did not. She was a guaranteed Harvard legacy student, his highest grade was a B+. 

He was a big, fat loser. She was not.

People like them weren’t meant to be. They never would be. That was just how it _ worked. _

It was a dare then, he decided as he began to sweat under the fluorescents. A prank before the semester ends. “C’mon.” Dan shouldered his backpack distractedly after slamming his locker shut, eyes trained on the linoleum floor. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”

Arin startled, deer in the headlights-ing him, stupid upside down Home Ec book almost falling from his hands. “But Dan-” 

“Do_ not _ start.” He cut in hurriedly, angrily almost, panic spiking as he felt her eyes all over him. “Seriously man, I just wanna go home.” Why hadn’t he worn something that wasn’t his favorite ratty Rush shirt and baggy jeans? Why was his hair such a mess today? Why was she walking towards them?! No, no, no!

She paused just enough steps away for Dan not to immediately keel over in disbelief, the smell of sugar cookies surrounding them. Was that... her? Did Ashley Anderson straight up smell like a friggin’ bakery? Oh, _ Adonai _. This was going to be the death of him. “Hi there. Dan Avidan, yeah?” She said slowly, like she wanted to make sure, just in case.

“Uh…” Dan was slack jawed, useless; brain hyper focused on the bright blue of her eyes, the coral pout of her mouth, the way her neck craned to look up at him, how she tucked the bottom of her corduroys into her combat boots.

Wait.

Combat boots?

Bonafide Doc Marten combat boots!

“...Nice... shoes...” He finally said in a dumbfounded voice, distantly hearing Arin groan. “Uh, I mean, hi. Yes. That be me. I, I mean. I’m Dan. Dan Avidan.” He managed, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “_ Hello. _”

She giggled and it was simply fucking beautiful. “You said that already, kind of.”

“Wow, you’re_ so _ right.” He could feel the nervous hyena laugh building up inside of him the longer they stood there, threatening to loose itself. “Can uh, I… we? We help you?” The sweating was getting much worse, much to Dan’s dismay, slipping down his back and across his brow.

She touched one of her combs quietly before giving him a tentative upturn of her lips. “Well, this is probably gonna sound super crazy, and also super last minute, but we’re throwing this crazy party at my place tonight and someone said they thought you could play bass and sing somewhat? And I just thought that’d be really cool. To have you perform, I mean. If you wanted to!”

Dan blinked once, twice, and three times for good measure, not sure if he had heard her right the first time around. But she was talking about punch bowls and eggnog now, absentee parents attending holiday parties a whole city over and how she would have the whole place to herself. “It’ll be great.” She was saying in a bubbly voice, still smiling, inexplicably radiant in the humdrum hallways of Eastview. “Get everyone in the Christmas spirit, y’know?”

Christmas. How many years had he grown up forced to make ornaments for a tree he would never have? Shaped little clay baby Jesus’s and angels to watch over his head? _ Goyem _didn’t care about Hanukkah. What it meant to him. What it meant to any of them. “Actually, I’m Jewish.” He spit out, unable to help himself.

It was her turn to blink then, clearly taken aback by the venom in his tone. Oh no. _ No. _ Now she’d hate him, he realized. Now she’d never want to talk to him again. Why had he said it like that? Like an asshole? Like a piece of shit? “Wait, I mean, that is to say-” He flubbed, desperate for the floor to swallow him whole. “What I meant was-!”

“What Dan meant was he would love to.” Arin cut in, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him down. “He’s still just worked up over the Bleier final he took. Fucking maniac.” He blabbed.

“Ohmigosh.” Her expression cleared and she actually touched him. ASHELY ANDERSON! TOUCHING HIM! Her very own pale hand on the curve of his shoulder as her brow pinched low. “I had him for AP Calc last year. Your friend’s right. He’s totally an asshole. But um…” She leaned in, expression clearing. “I don’t know too much about Hanukkah, but if there’s a certain dessert or something you’d like for tonight, I’m sure I could get it figured out.”

She was even prettier up close like this. Cheeks pink and eyes filled with bits and pieces of green and slate. And she cared. That was the incredible thing about all this. She actually cared about him, or at least was decent enough to act like she did.  
A smooth talking, suaver Dan would have smiled in response and brushed it off; but he was still the same _manyak_ he had been since the day he was born, so he looked at her and went “_sufganiyah_” in a soft and wanting voice before realizing himself. “It’s uh, sugar donuts, basically.” He explained quickly as a flush of embarrassment crawled up his throat. “Deep fried, jelly filled. Custard too.”

“_ Sufganiyah _ .” She tried to echo back, fucking it up. “Sue- Sah- Soofghaneea…? Okay, let’s just do _ this _ instead.” She offered her hand up right and produced a pen with the other, nodding invitingly. “Then I can just show it to them.”

This was a promise, Dan realized as he took it automatically. Made out of the shape of their fingers and pink gel pen. He pressed it in lightly, carefully, forgetting momentarily that Arin was even there. “Go to the bakery off of Sheridan, in the Jewish neighborhood.” He heard himself telling her. “They make ‘em best.” A promise, his heart thrilled. A promise between the two of them. Like he had made with Sung all those months ago, pinky bound.

She pulled back, closing her fingers around his slanted writing, dimpling with practiced ease. “Well, Mr. Avidan, I trust your judgement. And I’ll see you tonight so we can share them.” She flounced off without any kind of warning, rubber soles winking back at him. “And!” She spun at the corner of the stairwell, curls bouncing with the action. “Don’t forget your bass, and your friend, got it?”

And then she was gone-gone, taking Dan’s breath with her, leaving amazed silence in her wake. Arin finally broke the quiet a beat later, almost laughing. “Dude.” He choked out. “I think she just asked you out.”

*

“You have a _ date _?!”

“...Ma…”

“A date with a real live girl!?”

“MA!”

“AVI!!! AVI DID YOU HEAR THAT? OUR LITTLE _ MOTEK _ GOT HIMSELF A GIRLFRIEND!”

Oh, fuck it all, god _ damn _. 

When he had first told his mother he was skipping out on her long awaited cleaning plans, Deborah had stood there quietly, murderously; akin only to Havve. That’s when the panic rose up in him, causing his hands to shoot up and the truth to come tumbling out. Yes it was a party, no her parents wouldn’t be there, yes she had invited him, no he wasn’t going to drink any alcohol or do anything ‘bad’. 

Deb was scouring the bookshelf now, pulling at his yearbooks almost frantically. “Oh show me! Show me this pretty _ bahura _ who’s stolen your heart! Why have you never told us about her? AVI! DID YOU HEAR ME?!” She thundered when he didn’t come into the room at her immediate call. “ _ Oy gevalt! _ You awful man! It’s like you don’t even care!”

Dan groaned into his palms and slumped over to his mom’s side, knowing full well that Avi wasn’t getting up from his spot on the couch. “She… she’s uh, this one.” He pointed to her giddy junior picture from last year, knowing if he didn’t show her his mother would just call every other mother in the PTA just to get the inside scoop. “She’s in show choir, and she’s a high honors student…”

“Wait a second... Anderson!” Deborah gasped dramatically as she threw the book down, hands fluttering about. “With the prosecutor father and the mother who works for Avon?! Oh Daniel, you can’t go to her house in these _ shamatta _ things you call clothes! AVI!” She shrieked suddenly and violently, nearly blowing his eardrums out. “COME IN HERE RIGHT NOW OR IT’S EIGHT NIGHTS OF BURNT LATKES FOR YOU, I SWEAR TO GOD!”

That got Avi up, of course. He was a stomach led man. He shuffled into the room, casting Dan a dirty look before leaning against his wife’s side. “Your mother is right, you know. You look like you came in off the street!” He sniffed loudly as Dan went about rolling his eyes and biting his tongue. “I thought we raised you better than that!”

“You told me this morning that this was a great shirt, Dad!” He protested. “Besides, I wasn’t going to go like this!” He insisted then despite not knowing what he could really, actually put on.

Deborah raised a silent eyebrow in his direction, her judgement knowing no bounds. “Oh, and what were you going to wear, Daniel? Because I know for a fact that entire basement looks like a bomb went off in it and it smells like death down there.”

“Okay, it’s not _ that _ bad.” It was that bad, actually. It was second on the list for a reason, after all. “Listen, just, I got that pullover Yaya got me from last year that still fits, some nice dark jeans. It’s nothing special, it’s just... A Christmas party. ” He grimaced at the admission, but he didn’t want them thinking it was anything fancy or special when it wasn’t. It was just an excuse for a bunch of high schoolers to get drunk. “But Ashley said she’d be getting Sufganiyah from the bakery up off Sheridan-”

“Oh! How nice!” Avi actually looked impressed. “You know those _ goyem _-”

“Avi.” Deborah flapped her hands at him, expression pained and voice hush-quiet. “You shouldn’t say that word in this house...”

“Ach, but that’s what they are! And this time of year is the worst. Can’t go a block without someone shoving a wreath at you or singing Christmas Carols,_ laazazel _ , it drives me bonkers, Deborah. Did I tell you? Beverly next door, telling Christine down the street what a shame it is that ‘the Jews don’t put anything up.’” Avi huffed and crossed his arms, relenting only when she heaved a small and disheartened sigh, hurt growing on her features “Ah, but... like I said, it’s very nice that she’s thinking of you, Daniel. Don’t know how her family feels about _ us _, but nothing saying it isn’t worth giving it a go, huh?” 

_ Elohim ya’azor li. _ Just end his life immediately. Why had he ever opened his mouth in the first place? He should have just snuck out... “Can I _ please _just go get changed and tune my bass up?” He begged, crossing and recrossing his hands almost desperately.

“Hear that? She wants him to bring his bass, Debbie! She thinks she’s going to date a rockstar.” Avi snuck over to his side and nudged his ribcage, wringing a smile out of his mother. “You should sing her that song you were making this summer. The ahhh, what do you call it? Light Bright Brigade one?”

Unwittingly, Avi had made the same joke Arin had made about Sung on his birthday. “Starlight Brigade.” Dan corrected him gently, biting back a small laugh. “And maybe, who knows. I won’t be able to play anything if you keep pulling this shi- shtick.” He caught himself, seeing Deborah’s eyes narrow dangerously.

Finally, she relented. “Fine! Go! Bring me up whatever you’re going to wear and I’ll iron it out.” Deborah pushed him towards the stairs, shaking her head so fast Dan was surprised it didn’t fly off her neck immediately. “You’ll be the death of me, Daniel Leigh Avidan.” She told him.

“Love you too!” He called back to her before rushing down the stairs, hoping and praying to _ Adonai _and the god stars he hadn’t thrown that damn pullover out.

*

This had to be a mistake.

This could _ not _ be real.

His mother’s earlier panic was starting to make sense now the more he looked at the mega mansion that was the Anderson house, dripping in icicle lights with Santa Claus and his reindeer sprinkled on top. It was classy. Not overdone. Reeking of big money. “Jesus Christ, that’s like, my house and your house put together times five and a half.” Arin announced as they pulled up the street, eyes wide and vigilant. “Like friggin’ Ducktales… what do you even _ put _ in there, Dan?”

“A pool, probably.” Dan breathed out, still reeling with the fact that this was their destination, not just some kind of fly by. “Arin, fuck, they probably have their own Macintosh computer, IIci, the newest one.” Dan gasped.

Arin’s brows shot up, excitement spilling out. “Do you really think!? Maybe even Macintosh Portable? Rich people, man! They have everything, and I can’t even get the wheel on my bike fixed.” Deep inside of him there was something that was still skeptical about all of this. That they were going to get _ Carrie _’d the moment they walked through the front door. But she had promised him. Ashley had promised… “Wait, Dan.” Arin broke through his nervous reverie. “Park here, park here!” 

The_ last _ thing Dan wanted to do was parallel park between all of these nice Buicks and Cadillacs with his old jalopy, but what else was he gonna do? What was this? The whole school? “Alright, get your ass out of the car, let’s go.” He told Arin, shooing him out physically. “Tistom tah peh! The sooner you help me get parked, the sooner we get to go in... side…”

His voice trailed off, attention catching on the frantic flickering of his car’s radio light.

Danny’s car wasn’t normal. He _ knew _ it wasn’t normal. That being said, he wasn’t entirely too sure what it was, if not a strange, mechanical extension of himself. A herald in it’s own right. The dial kept flying back and forth wildly as he watched in a silent mix of horror-amazement, gibberish fuzzing in and out.

_ “You better watch out, you better not cry-” _

_ “-we’re here tonight, and that’s enough-” _

_ “-once bitten and twice shy-” _

_ “-and the sky is a hazy shade of winter-” _

“DAN.”

He screamed, nearly punching his windshield out. Arin was on the passenger side with his face pressed tight against the glass, gloved fingers curled cautiously. “Don’t tell me.” He muffled from the other side, breath fogging out. “It’s happening again.”

“...Maybe…” Dan mouthed. 

Maybe not.

He would know, wouldn’t he? His blood would sing with it, as would his heart, his soul. Above head the sky was painfully dark and ordinary. No stars streaking across the sky, no dark eyed princes to be found. A different kind of magic was taking place tonight, then. A real, human kind.

So no. Just a strange and familiar accident. He shook his head and finished parking his bastard car before getting out and pulling his bass along with him. “Danny…” Arin didn’t sound convinced, but he was already climbing up the hill that led to Ashley’s house. It wasn’t the strange, star bound Dan that had gotten to hold Ashley Anderson’s hand. Not that cosmic son of a bitch, no. It had been him and him alone.

It had just been Dan Avidan.

There was no point in knocking. Not with the music so loud and bright, like a fucking heart attack. Dan tugged his bass closer after he pushed the door open, making sure not to misplace Arin. “IS THIS MANIAC?!” His best friend practically yelled as the stepped over the threshold, startling him.

Dan cupped his hands over his ear and leaned in close, raising his voice to a near shout. “WHAT?!”

“I ASKED! IF THIS! IS MANIAC!!!” Arin screamed back. “I REALLY CAN’T TELL.”

Dan shrugged uselessly before taking the plunge, skirting past beefy jocks and their preppy girlfriends. He just wanted to find Ashley and settle in somewhere a little less chaotic for the night. Maybe actually get to talk to her...

Someone in a Santa Claus suit entered their orbit without any kind of warning, slapping his pillowed stomach drunkenly. “D’you guys know where the booze went?” He posed the question, as if it were sentient.

“We just got here man.” Arin told him. “Plus,” he crossed his arms over his chest. “Straight edge.”

“Losers!” Santa guy made it sound almost endearing though, so Dan almost laughed. _ Almost _. That was the key word. He almost hated this. He almost wanted to go home. “There’s grass by the pool if you decide you wanna loosen up. Take a load off!” He said with a smile and a wink before leaving them. 

Arin didn’t look impressed, but the idea of having something to calm his nerves was almost growing on Dan. So much for what he had told Avi and Deborah… “Maybe we should go.” Dan said in a low voice, worrying his strap once more.

“But we _ just _ got here.” There was an understanding in Arin’s eyes despite his vocal disagreement, and that’s why Dan didn’t hate him. “Give it ten more minutes, dude. At least try and find her and thank her, then just say you aren’t feeling well.” Fucking A, he was right. If Ashley really was the nice girl he hoped she was, then she would be upset if he didn’t at least show up and say hi to her. “I’m gonna go check out the kitchen-”

“You’re just looking for free food.” Dan was incredulous. “You _ always _ do this, Arin!”

“And? Can you blame me?” Arin laughed, not fazed in the slightest. “Listen, I’ll still keep a lookout, I promise, what are best friends for? And if I get a free meal out of it, that’s just an added bonus, Avidan. Then you don’t have to take me to Wendy’s afterwards.”

“You and your Wendy’s.” Dan sighed. “Fine, go raid the kitchen and-” The rest of his words were swallowed up by the B-52’s _ Love Shack _ going on blast, the bass so loud it caused the floor to tremble underfoot. “TEN MINUTES!” He tried to shout.

Arin flipped him a marvelous middle finger and fucked rightly off.

His new mantra was “Have you seen Ashley? Ashley Anderson?” as he traversed the great halls. While everything outside had looked classy and neat, the inside looked like elf throw up. Garland and tinsel and hanging plastic ornaments, fake snow drifts and glitter everywhere. And the trash! Dan couldn’t imagine the clean up. The worst part of it was no matter how far he looked for how long, no one knew where Ashley was. Some people didn’t even_ know _ her. She was an enigma. A real life Carmen Sandiego, international woman of mystery.

“Anderson, huh?” He had been this close to giving up when a goth girl drawled her name from the staircase. Dan turned, stunned by the Lydia Deetz-ness of her all. Pale faced and done up in all purple and black and oh-so-small. She raised a slim eyebrow, hands poised on her curved hips. “Who’s asking?”

Dan looked around, then pointed to himself, to which goth girl scoffed in response and curled her lip. “Name, bass boy. Age. Social security number.” 

“Dan.” He toed the slick marble floor. “Dan Avidan.”

Her brow raised infinitismally “Oh, _ you’re _ Dan, that makes sense. With the hair, and the…” Her eyes shot up his frame. “...Tall.” Who the hell? “You’re top of the list, Dan Avidan.”

“The list?” He parroted back dryly.

“Yeah. The ‘you can talk to my best friend’ list. The only one that matters in this stupid world.” This girl? And Ashley? Dan nearly laughed before remembering Ashley’s combat boots. “Oh my God, cease your face. It’s not that weird, asshole.”

“I didn’t-”

“Yes, you did.” Goth girl rolled her eyes. “Typical. Not my problem though. She’s in her room. Some idiot got cranberry vodka over her sweater and she’s changing it out. That’s what happens when you don’t wear black.” She grinned and her mouth was knife like as she pulled a candy cane out. “And before you ask, yes, she sent me out here. I’m on guard duty. Making sure losers don’t get up there.” 

“...So… am_ I _allowed up there?” Dan ventured nervously. 

She sat there silently and bit down on the candy cane, hard.

“I’ll take that as a no then.” Dear _ God. _ This woman was a maniac.

“No, you can go up.” She waved him on, chomping at the rest gleefully, eyes shining like a cat’s. “Like I said, top of the list. But knock! Don’t be a perv, or I’ll be forced to castrate you.” She waved the pointy end of the candy cane at his crotch. “Chop it up and put it in a stew.”

_ Mafchid _… A real witch. He kept his distance as he made his way upstairs. “And the name’s Suzy, by the way.” She yelled up after him. “Suzy Berhow!” She said it like she meant to say ‘don’t forget.’ in place of that.

He didn’t think he would any time soon.

There wasn’t anybody up on this level, which made sense given Suzy’s adamancy. Almost no decorations either. Only photographs detailing Ashley growing up with her family and different awards featured all around. Dan paused at one of her beaming in a sprightly gymnastics outfit, smiling like a million bucks. Different worlds, he couldn’t help but think as he saw her at Disney, ice skating, on horseback. 

_ But you’re not of this world, really _ . A little voice in the back of his head reminded him. _ What would Ashley think if she knew you were a star herald, chosen by the gods? _

_ But she already likes you without knowing that, remember!? _ Another voice piped up. His own angel-devil advocates. _ You’re on the list! _

_ And how long is that going to last for? A month? A week? Less? You’re a fucking loser. _ He caught sight of himself in the mirror and frowned heavily at his ugly sweater and curly hair. _ This could still be a joke. She could still be pranking you. _

“Just shut up.” Dan covered his face and groaned into his hands. Couldn’t he have just one thing? One fucking thing for once?

“...Dan?”

Of course she would show up now. Of course. Ashley was wearing a blue sweater now and slinky gray pants, like some kind of perfect ice princess. “You’re here!” She said in an excited voice. “And you brought your bass! Wow I’m so-” She must have seen something in his face because she stopped abruptly, lips turning down, down, down. “...Is everything okay?”

That was the thing about being a teenager in high school. No one really bullied him. That was all elementary and middle school. High school he felt like a ghost. He felt like nobody. No one. Like the only thing that was going to remind people that he had been there alongside them was his place in the yearbook. This party had reenforced that idea. The last few months of his life had too. He had peaked for one singular, glorious moment, and no one even knew it.

_ Your friends, _ his angel insisted. _ Sung, Arin... _

The devil snorted. _ Why didn’t Sung bring you with him? You saved his people too. _

“Hey. Talk to me.” She was so close now that he could smell that sweet cookie smell on her again. Sugar and vanilla. “Did Suzy give you a hard time? I told her-”

“...I’m just having a rough night.” He admitted softly and Ashley paused with it.

“...Me too.” She said after a beat. “You wanna talk about it?”

It had been more than ten minutes. Arin would be looking for him.

“Yeah.” Dan said. “I think I’d like that.”

*

Someway, somehow, by the will of _ Adonai _ Himself, he was in Ashley Anderon’s bed with Ashely freakin’ Anderson.

She had a queen sized canopy bed trimmed in white lace with a fancy quilt on top, passed down. A desk covered in Seventeen and Tiger Beat Magazines and all sorts of jewelry. And the _ albums _. She had so many albums Dan didn’t even know where to start. All her grandpa’s, she told him when she saw him staring. Again, passed down.

He had leaned his bass up against the leftmost wall. It almost fit into her strange and eclectic room, almost. “I hope no one ate your donuts.” She broke the silence finally. He almost hadn’t heard her. And who could blame Dan when her bed was so soft and smelled like her? It was probably a little creepy, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“It’s not the end of the world.” He let her know. And it wasn’t. He was more caught on the fact that she had actually gotten them. “I mean, did you try one?”

“Yes!” She threw her hands up excitedly. “You’re so right. They’re so good! They let me try one fresh at the bakery, fresh out of the fryer! Do you make them at home?”

“Sometimes.” Danny gave her a tiny smile, heart beating extra fast. “Mostly only this time of year.”

“Well I’d make them _ all _ year.” Ashley hummed. “A sufganiyah every night for dessert.” She still wasn’t saying it quite right, but she was getting there. It was downright adorable. “Until I was sick of them.”

“I feel like that’d be pretty quick.” Dan let out a chuckle, which caused her to turn.

“I don’t think you know me very well, Dan Avidan.”

He liked when she used his full name. It popped out of her every time, sounding like magic. Dan turned on his side and tried not to think about how it brought him that much closer to her. “Well, then you better learn to play the Dreidel game so you can get all the gelt.”

Ashley turned too and only a small part of him panicked at how close she was. The rest of him was so caught up on how easy it was to talk to her, the flow of the conversation so warm and casual. “They all mean different things, right? The different sides. I’ve seen a dreidel before, but I’ve never really had a chance to learn about it.” She almost whispered, eyes aglow.

A dreidel lesson, huh? “Well, there’s_ nun _ . Which, if you think about it, makes sense. You get nothing. None. _ Shin _ is when you add a piece to the pot. _ Hay _ means you can take half of it, and _ Gimmel _ is the big one. Jackpot.” It was tradition to play it every year with his family, and Avi had even teased that they could use real money this year since Dan had his own job. An idea which Deborah promptly shot down. “The lighting of the candles is a lot less entertaining, but… it’s Jewish tradition, you know.”

“I _ don’t _ know.” Ashley said, but her tone wasn’t sharp. It sounded amazed, caught up. “I kind of just like, want to keep hearing you talk about it, but um…” Her eyes glanced towards the door. 

Suzy. The party. Things she should care about given that she was the host. Ashley didn’t look eager to get up though. She looked content and ready to pass out. “I mean, that’s fine.” Dan started to tell her.

She shushed him. “Bullshit. You told me you were having a rough night.”

Dan gave a rueful chuckle and turned his face into the mattress slowly. “I’m always having a rough night, Ashley.”

He didn’t want to do this. Ruin this moment with his mouth. “You were too.” Dan slipped in before she could protest. “I heard about your sweater.”

“It’s cashmere.” Ashley groaned, taking the bait. “I couldn’t even get close to getting the stain out. My mom’s going to kill me. But like, also, that’s not the end of the world! It’s a stupid sweater! I keep see-sawing on it. Up-down. Up-down. Ugh.”

“...Well, my _ ema _ can probably help.” 

She blinked, shocked by the offer. “Really?”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “She’s a nurse. She works with a lot of nasty stuff.” Why had he said it like that. His cheeks flamed by Ashley didn’t look grossed out. “I can take the sweater home tonight, get it back to you before your parents get home.” He’d serve the world on a silver platter to her, but Dan didn’t need to divulge that outloud. “The point is. You’re allowed to be upset about a sweater. I get freaked out about my clothes all the time!” His mother would probably love to argue that fact, but Dan just had a process. “Also, no offense, but that party’s kind of a nightmare.”

That really got her laughing as she sat up, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You’re telling me. I don’t even know half the people down there! I think word got out and suddenly everyone was like ‘ohhhh Ashley Anderson’s having a party.’ Her parent’s have all the good stuff. Suzy helped me get all the crazy expensive junk upstairs though before anyone came over, so they’re shit out of luck, actually.” She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. 

God. What a woman. She cursed like a sailor and smiled like sunshine. “...Can I ask?” Dan ventured, feeling brave. “What um, made you...ask me to come?” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t bravery at it’s core. Maybe it was something craven and worried and wanting to know. “I mean, I know you said it was because I play bass-” He rushed in with. “But like, we-we’ve never talked before this and I just-”

“Dan.”

He shut his mouth up. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the hell was wrong with him? Everything, nothing. _ More than human _ , that devil voice of his reminded him. Maybe _ that’s _ what it was. Maybe he was slowly becoming more removed from this sphere of existence every day, becoming less like them and more like…

“Dan.” She said again because he was tight lipped with his face hidden away. “Please don’t think I just… I did this just to fuck with your head. It was Suzy’s friends, Ross and Barry, who said that they saw you do this open mic night thing, and when I realized we went to the same school, I was like oh it’s perfect. Like. How could I not ask him?” Right. The open mic night at the comic book shop. It had been covers mostly. All the proceeds going to the children’s hospital.

Arin had told him to perform Starlight Brigade.

He had not.

“I get though, if like, you thought it was out of the blue and weird. And I’m just grateful you showed up! I don’t even_ like _ half the people I hang out with at school, but I kind of just fell in with them-” She seemed to realize the implication behind her words and stopped.

Harvard legacy student. Rich. Smart. _ Wunderkid. _

Different.

Dan pushed up from the bed and kept his mouth shut.

“Dan. Dan!” She was up too, trying to follow him, her face a mask of horror. “Wait, I said that wrong-!”

“You didn’t though.” He told her, trying not to cry, to laugh. “You really didn’t.”

It didn’t matter that she had AC/DC albums and Led Zepplin. Didn’t matter that she wore Doc Martens. Didn’t matter that her best friend in the world was akin to Samael’s Lilith or that she swore often and snorted when she laughed. They were still too _ different _. “I’m gonna go now.” He almost wished he could leave Arin and drive off into the night, but he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t be a dick. “And uh, I guess I’ll see you after break.” Ha-ha, funny joke.

Dan grabbed his bass and turned to move forward when the lights went out.

"Dan, did you hear that?" She whispered. He had, but he didn't answer her.

Something was on the roof.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Lumen, Lumen, Lumen, _ the sky was screaming. _ God, god, god. _

He was all too familiar with how the darkness gripped him now. How it tore at his hands and soul. It knew who he was, _ what _he was, and it hungered for the stars.

Worlds forgotten. Worlds on death’s row. Worlds with death knells and dirges centuries in the making...

...Worlds he would be the savior of.

“Sung.” His heart whispered. “Come back Sung.”

Not yet. He wasn’t even there yet. There was nothing darker, nothing more desolate, more awful than this part. Deeper to the source of lacking and absence- he just had to fall a little deeper into the black.

“Come back.” His heart was demanding. “COME BACK SUNG!”

He came up gasping with darkness at his back. “Fuck. It followed-” Someone was shouting. Then touching him. Then screaming? That last one was him, wasn’t it? Stop, he told himself furiously. Just stop it. Go back!

Not him though. Not yet. But the darkness.

The _ darkness _ had to go back to where it belonged.

He saw Phobos first. Meouch. Havve. Having only seconds to simply _ look _ at them before he was spewing up wave after wave of endless black. “I told you. I _ told _ you!” Meouch barked over the sound of Sung’s wet gasp-choke-retching. “It was too soon, damn it!”

Havve offered a slow, half tilt of his head at the commander, as if to challenge him. “THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM.” The sentinel drawled. “THE PROBLEM IS THAT SUNG DIDN’T PACE HIMSELF.”

“Don’t say that.” Phobos spat, all righteous fury and panic bound. “He’s doing everything he can-!”

Enough of this. “I’m right here, you know.”

Three sets of eyes turned to him and the incriminating spill of black that now coated his mouth and chin and throat. “The funny thing is you’re all right, in a way.” Sung told them in a voice both soft and rasping.

Right for quite some time now, actually.

Sung spat black again and groaned. It wasn’t _ that _ bad, he tried to tell himself. He could hear the distant pinging of the cruiser’s autopilot, and gods, at least he could talk. There had been times before when he had taken the plunge and came out black eyed and useless, stripped of all the thoughts and memories in his head. 

He had grown up fate bound, knowing that this was what he was made for and what he had to do, and yet he had never known. None of them had, really. The expectation that came with that was that it would be easy. That he would be steadfast in his endeavors and change the world for the better. What had happened with Malaise and Langour had already rattled them, but this… 

This caused Meouch’s eyes to narrow, caused Havve to bow his head. And Phobos. Oh, this was _ ruining _ him.

Sung slowly pushed up onto shaky legs before carding his fingers through his hair. “Guess we’re taking a break then.” He tried for casual and unaffected, but the joke fell flat, causing them all the grimace. Idiot. How could he be so stupid…?

No one moved until Phobos did. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He murmured, sad and gentle. This was their ritual. Clean the grit of star death from his teeth and tongue, write down the details, hit restart. 

There were no epic space battles to be found here, no strange creatures and forgotten gods. There was only the aftermath, the misery...

An echo they were just too late to catch the source of, seconds too short.

Such was the heart of darkness.

*

“So tell me what happened.”

This was the unofficial take. What stayed off the record books. It consisted of one bed, two bodies, hands clasped indefinitely. “It was dark.” Sung whispered into the space between them. “Endless.”

“Always.” Phobos filled in when he said nothing else, dark eyes understanding as Sung drew in a slow, slow breath. “It always is.”

Phobos knew the most out of all of them, made a night’s child nearly ten years ago; subject to that same yawning black darkness that Sung kept falling into until the Lumen prince had found him in the midst of it all, following the call of his soul. “I feel like if I just keep letting it happen, if I just let myself fall a little further Phobos, I’ll find it.” Sung admitted, his voice deceptively steady and soft. “Where it’s coming from. The origin point.”

Phobos let his eyes fall closed before he sat up partially, half leaning over him, hair like silken moon light. “So what’s stopping you?” He asked, words low and searching despite already knowing Sung’s response.

“You.” Sung told him as he touched the other’s starred wedding band. “Always you.”

Phobos didn’t kiss him when he said that. He simply laid his arms over Sung’s shoulders and held him close. “I know.” He could hear the satisfied smile in the other man’s voice, causing him to mimic the action faintly to himself. “It should be more than just that though.” 

He was right. His parents. His people. His friends...

“Maybe you should ask Daniel.” Phobos murmured against the side of his neck timidly, accidentally mouthing his pulse. Sung tried not to shiver, hugging Phobos a little bit tighter instead, his gaze centered between his horns and to the window beyond. “We don’t have to keep just… throwing ourselves at this wall, Sung. There are other ways to do this.”

Danny. His star herald, his proclaimer, his, for lack of better words, human counterpart. “We can’t.” He _ refused _ to drop into Dan Avidan’s life again unannounced just to ruin it. Ruin _ him _. He was so young, so selfless… he didn’t need to fight in a war that was never his to begin with. “I won’t do that to him.”

“Asking isn’t the same as forcing him to drop everything to come along.” Phobos pulled back, brow coming together into a fine ‘v’ shape. “He is your prophet. If anyone were to know what was happening or what is to come, it’s him!” 

“And what if he _ has _ to drop everything and come with, Phobos?” Gods, no. Anything but this. Anything but them fighting. Anything but Phobos hating him. And anything but ripping Danny away from his life and family and friends. Where was the other option? The one where no one got hurt? “They don’t grow up on Earth knowing that every night could be their last-”

“Bullshit!” His heart was breaking as Phobos put more and more distance between them, his fists curling up, his teeth bared. “They’re in the middle of a war, Sung.”

“Yeah, a cold war, Phobos! C’mon now!”

Phobos flinched and stood there staring at him wordlessly until Sung realized what he had just did. Using Earthen English instead of his native tongue. God, it had been so long since he had used it last, so how? “...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Sung uttered stiffly, each word measured out. “It’s just not the same Phobos. It’s different.” His voice was failing fast, tears threatening to wash it out. “Everything’s so different now.”

He was supposed to be the hero. The savior. He felt so strange. So _ human _.

Phobos closed his eyes and covered his mouth, iridescence paling as he let out a broken sound. Please. Sung stood up and moved forward. Not his forever heart, his forever song. If anyone could be spared this misery, let it be him.

Sung took one step. Then another. And another another until he finally reached him. “One more time.” He could feel his stars emerging finally, back where they belonged as the last of the darkness left him, circling around them. “And if it doesn’t work, we’ll contact Dan.” When had he started crying? When had Phobos? Everything was tears and starlight as he leaned in to kiss the Irisatis lord. “I promise.” He pressed their foreheads together, their hearts, their mouths and tongues. “I promise…”

*

“CAN’T BREAK A PROMISE IF YOU FIND THE SOLUTION FIRST, HUH?”

“...Don’t start.”

He was pouring over Estrellium literature in the main hull, reading up on Lumen kings and queens and their long dead god stars. There had to be _ something _he was missing, some vital part...

Havve looked smug despite not being able to emote properly, head propped up on his fists, spiked parts all hitched up. “YOUR HERALD TAUGHT YOU THE ART OF LOOPHOLES, IT SEEMS.”

“Implying I didn’t know that already!” The aura of robotic smugness grew until Sung was forced to put a pause in his searching, starlight sloughing off him as he stomped up to the sentinel. “Cease and desist immediately.” He demanded. Plain, simple, a prince’s command.

Havve hummed, his 808 kicking up gleefully. “REQUEST DENIED.”

"Huh?" He blurted as his stars dipped in confusion and his brow pinched up.

“REQUEST DENIED.” Havve repeated in an unbothered tone, head listing to the side. “I’M SIMPLY SITTING HERE. WATCHING YOU. THAT’S IN MY CODE. YOU KNOW, A SENTINEL’S PRIMARY OBJECTIVE. MY _RAISON_ _D’ETRE_, SUNG.”

His mouth hinged open unexpectedly. “Raisin dey _ what _ now?” 

“Reason for existence, Sung.”

Great. Now Meouch was here. And with Phobos tucked away all nice and neat in their bed, he was outnumbered, it seemed. “And you get pissed when I start speaking English.” He cut in with a huff of profound annoyance. “Then you start speaking literal gibberish-”

“It’s French, idiot, and it’s worth it to see you get this worked up.” The Felidae man grinned, big paw landing in his hair. “When’s the last time you did something besides act brave or cry, princeling?” He asked expectantly.

Sung flushed and made an embarrassed sound, not sure if he hated that Meouch was right or that he was being an asshole. “Don’t start.” He repeated, turning away from both of them. “And leave me alone. Can’t you see I’m busy?” 

He had his Walkman for these exact situations. For all the if-when moments that required him to be alone in his head. This, a near endless supply of batteries, and the keytar had all been gifts from Arin and Dan when they had visited them. Gifts from another dimension for the wedding, Arin had said.

Thumbing the play button petulantly, Sung slipped his headphones on, trying his best to focus on the blatant loudness of the Beastie Boys instead of his commander. “Havve’s right though.” The older male began to prowl-pace the length of the room, somehow still audible. “You made yourself a _ nice _ little loophole to jump through. If! You can figure it out, of course.” 

Sung worked his jaw from one side to the other before pointing to his headphones aggressively. “CAN’T HEAR YOU.” He all but yelled at them, mentally apologizing to Phobos the moment it left his mouth. “COME BACK LATER?” He offered then without actually meaning it.

“OR… WE STAY AND HELP YOU.” Havve had decided to join Meouch apparently, shadowing his gait effortlessly as his red eyes glimmered in the half light. “I’D RATHER NOT GET DISMANTLED AND TURNED INTO SCRAP METAL IF YOU MANAGED TO GO AND GET YOURSELF KILLED, SUNG.”

“And _ I _ have a reputation to uphold, and a record, actually.” Meouch nostrils flared, whiskers twitching as his dark lips pulled up. “So what are we waiting for, kid?”

He hit pause and forced himself to look at them. Really looked. They had always been complete opposites. Meouch being scar ridden, rippling with bulk and muscle. Felidae were long lived as is, but his second in command had been alive for so long he had trained under his grandfather’s reign and risen in the ranks alongside his father. His kind were loyal, brave, strong- some of the most ferocious warriors in the service of starlight.

And then there was Havve. Svelte and angled, somehow both sleek and bursting with quiet violence. One would think that he was one of Boredom’s with how savage and awful he was, but he was anything but. He was Sung’s shadowed counterweight. His _ raison d’etre _, he had said. Made for him.

That’s why he had to get down to the bottom of this. Figure it out and end it. Because it wasn’t just him and Phobos against the world. It was Meouch and all of the Felidae, Havve and the other sentinels. His mother, his father, his court and kingdom. Lost souls and crying children and the never ending death of starlight. 

“Is it even worth it?” Sung asked as he pushed his headphones off. Pages on pages of stories and history when the answer could be right there at his fingertips. Dan. Just ask Dan… 

Havve looked up from some strange article, optics blinking. “IS _ WHAT _ WORTH IT?”

“Being the better person.” Sung managed raw and uselessly.

He could feel his stars dimming, gathering around him worriedly as his face dropped to the floor. “That depends.” Meouch said after a beat, tail twitching. “On what the alternative is.”

Sung sniffed and ran a hand under his nose, eyes filling up with liquid starlight. No bravery tonight, apparently. “I just don’t want to be the reason his life gets messed up.” He choked out, knowing they knew what he was talking about. “He’s just a kid.”

“Jeeze, like you aren’t.” Meouch gave a short snort. “Listen, Sung, he’s god chosen, just like you are. That means that Dan’s life isn’t always going to be sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately.”

But it could be, if they didn’t go there, if they didn’t bring their messes to his front door. Sung mashed his lips together though and kept quiet, letting Meouch press on. “What’s so different visiting Danny now versus when we did in the summer?” He asked.

“We weren’t _ here _ in the summer.” They hadn’t been desperate. He and Phobos had even gone as far to take a momentary honeymoon before all of that, a single week for just themselves without any whispers or eyes or questions to answer. 

:YOU MEAN YOU WEREN’T DYING OF DECHOIR BACKWASH.” Havve said away from him, not even turning. “RIGHT?”

Leave it to Havve. There was no sugar coating it. He almost laughed out loud before remembering himself. “Yeah,” Sung sniffed again. “That.” 

Who could ever forget that?

Meouch suddenly went about heaving the world’s most dramatic and drawn out sigh. “Then you know what you have to do.” He wasn’t going to argue it. He was, as he had said to all of them many times before, too old for bullshit. “I’ll set the coordinates to get us out of this clusterfuck, and by the time we wake up, we’ll be Earth bound.” Months on months of mapping out the heart of darkness, trying to find it’s weakest point… only to toss it to the side uncaringly.

Sung couldn’t believe.

“Listen.” Meouch clapped his paw on the prince’s shoulder, startling him. “This is the right thing to do, Sung. If he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know. We move on. It’s that simple.” He was right and Sung hated it. He rubbed at his face again and swallowed the rest of his tears away before they could fall. “Now do us all a favor and get in bed with your husband, yeah? Get some sleep. Don’t worry about it.”

If only.

If only.

*

They were so close when it happened.

When everything fell apart.

Phobos had been, needless to say, overjoyed when Sung told him; his relief a tangible thing as he nearly tackled the prince to the ground. Lightness permeated the air where there had been none following the decision, the prospect of them getting away from this desolation and finally finding answers cheering them all up.

Everyone but Sung, apparently.

He ought to be glad. He _ knew _ he should. But every bit and piece of distance that disappeared between them and Earth just managed to make the Lumen prince more nervous. He didn’t dare tell them, of course, knowing Meouch would pass it off as pessimism, that Havve would call him a bleeding heart. And Phobos… 

He didn’t dare tell Phobos despite telling him everything, simply not wanting to break his heart.

But he should have, Sung realized much later. He really should have said something about it.

“I wonder how Dan’s been doing since we last saw him.” Phobos wondered out loud as they neared the warp point, his hands pressed into Sung’s shoulder blades as he worked the knots out. “Still at the comic shop?”

“Seemed like he enjoyed it.” Sung mumbled as his eyes fluttered closed. Really, he was just proud of himself for being able to speak in full, coherent sentences. It wasn’t always easy when Phobos had his hands on him. “Better than some jobs they’ve got down there.”

“Says the spoiled prince!” Meouch guffawed, laughing even harder when he saw Sung’s disgruntled pout. “Gods, you wouldn’t know a bad job if it bit you in the ass, right Havve?”

“AFFIRMATIVE.” The sentinel all but chirped. “BUT CAN WE BLAME HIM?”

Havve stared at the commander for nearly a minute before Meouch started snickering. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can!”

“Asshole!” Sung blurted and everyone burst out laughing in response.

This is how it ought to be. How it had been, Sung amended to himself. The Starlight Brigade at their strongest and most ready, able to take on anything. “Okay, okay, I get it. It’s pick on Sung day.” He waved his hand in front of him, making an over-exaggerated face-

Only to pause when the ship rocked oh-so-subtly.

Turbulence, one of them was probably about to say. Interdimensional shifting, faulty quantum leaps, literally anything. It was nothing, he told himself, feeling all eyes on him. It was nothing, it was nothing, it was not.

Then it happened again and his starlight went out. “Dechoir.” He had just enough time to whisper before the ship shuddered to a halt.

It would be here, at the edge of the universe, where nothing ought to be found. It would be now when they were half distracted and off guard. It was already in the ship, already coming for them-

Whatever it was still wasn’t fast enough for Havve though, who struck like an asp the moment the emergency lights came to life- death unfolding, a weapon in real time. But it was vast, overcoming the robot with an awful, glassy laugh that shattered on impact. “I’ve been looking for you, star savior.” It hissed as it raised it’s head, pinning Havve immediately. 

Meouch had his phaser at the ready, the steady whine of it cutting through the silence that followed. “You and your little friends.” It hummed, watching them all eagerly.

“Your cause is dying.” Phobos seethed, reaching for his sword that they all knew wasn’t there. It was in the room, under the bed. Stupid, so stupid. “What’s the point of you even being here?”

It grinned, mouth glittering and bloody, a beautiful disaster in perfect form. “Revenge.” It told Phobos before launching itself at him within half a breath. 

Everything after that came in bright and incomprehensible flashes, the world inverting on itself. The scream he loosed, the quickness of Meouch’s shot; darkness, coiling and greedy, somehow swallowing all of them. “It knows you now. So easy to find.” The creature sang in the midst of it all. “It misses you dearly, sweet prince.”

Was that what was happening now?

Was this his fault?

He lashed out with every star he could muster, but it still wasn’t enough. What was this thing? How was it doing this? Sung was reeling, trying to make sense of what was happening, still weak from his last fall. 

“Sung!” Phobos called as the darkness rushed him.

And then they were all falling down.

*

He was so tired of falling and yet here he was.

(Here they were?)

The darkness and that thing had come with him.

(Hit repeat again.)

It was cold, mercilessly so, his breath fogging up and towards the stars. _ Move, _ something told him, and he twisted at just the right moment for his back to take the hit. Where was he? What was happening?

Was he falling again?

_ MOVE! _Sung twisted again, the wrong way this time around, and felt the god awful moment his shoulder shattered as it hit the ground. A formless gasp tore out of his body, his scream still trying to catch up with him.

“Thank you.” It said, rising up above him to the stars above. “Thank you.”

He blinked and there was darkness.

He blinked and fell down.

*

Because they were all in high school, everyone was screaming the moment the lights went off.

That’s what Dan tried to tell himself. It was like in class when the electricity went out. It was just a knee-jerk reaction to scream in response. What kids did. “Bet that was the breaker.” He said in a small voice, trying not to think about whatever had hit the rooftop. It had been terrifyingly loud, and something about it invoked the image of a body thrown down onto it.

“You think?” Ashley’s voice trembled and for a moment Dan forgot he was kind of angry at her. He took a stumbling step through the darkness, reaching his hands out. “I don’t know how to fix that.”

Finally, one of Avi’s life lessons was going to pay off. “If you have a flashlight-” He started, only to whip his head towards the door.

Something was out there.

Something was waiting outside.

He shouldn’t have been able to hear it, to sense it, but the pure malevolence radiating from the other side of the door was downright sickening. It took a moment to place, but when he finally did, he could feel the sweat dripping down his back as it came together in his head.

Dechoir.

It was like an itch you couldn’t scratch, growing until your entire body felt wrong, like you were the invader. How could he forget how it crept up on him when he first met Langour, dead eyed and wicked in the mall as he searched for Sung, cornering him. Flaring up in a fever pitch as she straddled him in Malaise’s lair, sucking the light out of him and violating him.

It was a wrongness that didn’t belong to this world, a growing tear that threatened to rip everything apart.

Why here? Why now? Had something happened in space? 

God, where the hell was Sung?

“I know you’re in there.” It made a clicking sound and rattled the doorknob expectantly, like a twisted version of Santa Claus. “Have you been naughty?” 

“Oh God.” He heard Ashley choke out right as it broke down the door.

It was awful, whatever shape it had taken. A true demon. Straight out of the Old Testament and hell. It appeared as how Satan should, quadruple horned and goat eyed, smelling of rot and loathing. “Star herald.” It purred in a voice too fine for it’s nightmarish form as it entered the room, smiling perfectly. “Found you.”

Dan didn’t even stop to think, to consider, to pause and weigh the options out. He simply raised his bass with a battle cry and charged the damn thing. Beat the devil, he told himself as he brought it down. Kill whatever the hell this thing had made itself out to be and _go_. It laughed and grabbed the instrument mid-swing before crushing the neck in it’s massive grip, shattering his bass in half immediately. “Shame.” It murmured. “I hope you weren’t too attached to that.”

Adrenaline took over, prompting him to take the broken half he still held and stab it towards it’s stomach. Dan almost managed it too, failing at the last second when it grabbed his wrist and pulled. “Better than the Lumen prince, I’ll give you that, but it’s still not enough.” It was going to break his wrist and then what? Kill him? Gobble him up? Dan began to half laugh-half hyperventilate, fear starting to fully overtake him. “He’ll be devastated.” It laughed, breath meaty and odorous. Oh _Adonai_, it’s teeth were elongating, turning into sharp points-

Just in time for Ashley to knock them out.

She had a baseball bat of all things in her tiny, delicate hands, a big ass metal one. “Holy SHIT.” She shrieked as it whipped it’s head towards her, tossing him to the side uselessly. “Dan!” Was screaming screaming for him or because she needed him. He tried to find his footing again and fell to the floor, the world spinning. “DAN!”

With what? How? He could only watch she raised the bat up again, starting to cry. “Now that I think about it, this is even better.” It began to hiss smugly as it stepped towards her. “You and your little star god took everything from me, and now I’m going to return the favor, starting with her.” It told him.

And then in a flash of light they were gone, both of them, both-

Shock knifed through him, leaving him cold and breathless. He whispered something in Hebrew then before a whole slew came out, frantic tears following. Less than five minutes had passed just now and Ashley was gone. Dan tried to breathe again and felt his panic push upwards, body resisting the idea. Breathe, he tried to tell himself. Breathe!

He went and fainted instead.

*

“Dude, what the hell are you wearing?”

Sung step-slump-stepped past the intoxicated gentleman in the backyard, eyes focused on the grand building in front of him. Not necessarily a castle but close enough, and more importantly, it had Dan inside of it.

He just had to get to him.

Everything was blurring together, the pain of his shoulder somehow both hurting and helping him. “First you, then that guy in the Krampus get up.” He said after him, momentarily distracting him. “Really in character. Like, guy, we get it. You spent too much on your Halloween outfit and have to reuse it. Same boat, I’m guessing.” He added, tugging at Sung’s cape.

Sung’s gaze swung to the stranger, face bleak, his eyes unfocused despite his best efforts. “Fuck, are you like, tweaking?” The guy asked, looking nervous all of a sudden. “I heard there were some hard drugs here, but-”

“I don’t understand a single thing coming out of your mouth.” Sung interrupted quietly. “And I don’t fucking care, for that matter, actually.” He had to find Dan and get down to the bottom of this in order to fix it up, make things right again. “Now, tell me how the hell to get in there.”

And how to find Dan Avidan.


End file.
